Operational Art of Maritime Straits

摘要

The world economy is growing more reliant on the volume and security of traffic in the maritime straits. Given the expanding role of asymmetric warfare in littoral sea control and the growing importance of strait integrity in the global economy, understanding the intricacies of operational factors in straits is vital to the Commander's employment of sound Operational Art. This paper examines operational factors as they pertain to the uniqueness of maritime straits. The peculiarities of strait closure and resulting drastic effects in the modern global economy must be examined thoroughly in the Space- Force-Time construct to understand the power balance vital to maintaining sea- lines of communication and maritime interests of the United States and its allies. Due to the speed at which some straits can be closed and the resulting global effects, the only guarantor of integrity in those straits is to preemptively strike a belligerent's forces. If this thesis is correct, a new array of difficult problems is revealed. The timeline from actionable intelligence to a belligerent's effective strait closure is very short, if it even exists. The time that is available is not sufficient for debating reactionary plans or new course of action (COA) development. But the decision to preemptively strike may result in many unintended consequences, the most likely -- war. The two extremes: reacting to strait closure and employing a preemptive-strike leave the combatant commander few middle-ground alternatives. A case study focuses on current day Iran and the Strait of Hormuz. Finally, the paper recommends a combatant commander review and revision of courses of action under an Operational Art lens, focused through the Space-Time-Force analysis provided.